Teaching German

Sports

Stuttgart's winless run in Bundesliga continues after Hertha draw

Friday's Bundesliga clash in Stuttgart ended without any goals - and was devoid of many chances. The prospect of relegation for the home team continues to hang over the club, who are without a win in eight league games.

Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin, two teams mired in the relegation battle, produced an insipid 0-0 draw at the Mercedes-Benz Arena to force little change to the standings at the bottom. Hertha ended the game with ten men after Nico Schulz was shown red in stoppage time.

Friday's encounter paired the team holding the worst home record with the one holding the poorest away record, as well as bringing together the two sides who have won the smallest percentage of challenges in the Bundesliga. In addition, Hertha Berlin is the team that has the lowest possession statistics in the division. Something had to give.

Stuttgart head coach Huub Stevens fielded a more attacking line-up, with Filip Kostic, Timo Werner and Alexandru Maxim supporting Daniel Ginczek. But his confidence-shattered side continued to toil in the final third, and only the enthusiasm of Timo Werner thrust the home side forward with any degree of danger to the other side.

A point apiece from 'six-pointer'

Johnny Heitinga was booked after 20 seconds for the Berliners

Hertha wasn't much better on the attack, though. At the other end, keeper Thomas Kraft was rarely tested, but he did have to get his positioning right to save Christian Gentner's header on the 18th minute, the midfielder heading straight into the former Bayern keeper's arms from inside the box.

Given Hertha's average possession rate of 43% this season, it shouldn't be surprising that the Berliners saw only glimpses of the ball in the second half - Hertha Berlin had seen a mere 33% of the possession by the 75th minute and barely threatened the Stuttgart goal.

But the Old Lady would conjure up the clearest chance of the 90 minutes, inspired by Salomon Kalou who nutmegged Georg Niedermeier on the counterattack to then set up Schulz on the opposite flank - only for the Hertha substitute, who found himself through one-on-one with Sven Ulreich, to clip the ball wide of the post.

Another match without three points leaves Stuttgart rock bottom of the division, but one point closer to safety, albeit before the other teams - Paderborn, Freiburg and Hamburg - have played this weekend.